


Nature-spirit-like

by nighttime_stars



Series: Nature Spirit AU [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Bickering, First Meetings, Fluff, Humans are not nice, M/M, Mentioned Generation of Miracles, Pre-Relationship, Stupid Fight, the generation are nature spirits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 12:26:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15630669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nighttime_stars/pseuds/nighttime_stars
Summary: Kagami is a low-ranking soldier in an army that took everything from him and Tetsuya is a nature spirit intrigued by an interesting human with bright hair. Their meeting is purely by chance and supposed to be a one-off, but after Kagami displays his strength and courage, how can Tetsuya just let him be killed?





	Nature-spirit-like

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoyed writing this, especially since its fantasy which is my favourite genre to write. I was a little bit nervous because I have never written Aomine before but his character is actually really fun. Also, I'm becoming much more comfortable writing dialogue though it still isn't the best. so, I hope you like this story.
> 
> P.S I really hate creating titles, as you can probably tell.

The night was cold yet beautiful. Distant bright stars littered the inky black sky, creating a detailed map only visible to the army’s navigators. Stretching to the right was a great lake; there was no end in of the shimmering expanse of water. Protecting their left flank was a dense forest made of towering trees and a thick tangle of knee-high shrubs. It was the perfect place for the army to set up camp and rest after their long successful campaign. Soldiers constructed large luxurious tents on the flat strip of land between lake and forest for the officers. These soldiers’ friends threw out their bedrolls for them as the lower ranks had to sleep under the cloudless sky.

Kagami Taiga was assigned to guard along the treeline: a torturous task for anyone after the twenty-mile journey they walked that day. However, the commanding officer seemed to believe he had triple the stamina of a regular soldier.

So he patrolled the edge of the forest. Dragging his lead-like feet, he saw someone else doing the same over by the lake. Kagami felt immense empathy for his comrade (despite not having the slightest clue on who they were).

The ground beneath Kagami was damp and full of life. Lush green grass danced in the slight breeze and, as he watched incredulous, glowing blue flowers sprung up around his feet and grew at a rapid pace. Their delicate stems climbed and curled around his ankles. Kagami attempted to move forwards but the flowers held fast and it felt too cruel to sever them with his sword.

Seeing Kagami halt suddenly, a soldier setting up camp nearby called out to him, asking if Kagami was well and not about to collapse from exhaustion (a fairly common sight). The flowers receded back underground at the sound of another unexpected person and Kagami waved the soldier off with a fake smile. There was no way he could even try to explain this strange occurrence. His confused mind chalked it up to the night without sleep even though the sunset only a few hours prior.

**

Tetsuya receded back into the shadowy forest when he heard the voice of another human. He knew that he already took too many risks engaging with the interesting one.

Hidden in the dense foliage, he was meant to be observing the large group of humans. Occasionally a lone traveller would wander past and, if one of his siblings were intrigued, they would be invited to join their dysfunctional family of nature spirits. Some refused but, as Tetsuya understood it, human life was cruel and messy so most chose to stay. However, never before has a whole hoard of humans marched through their home.

This land was ancient and Tetsuya was there at the beginning along with his seven siblings. As immortal and powerful nature spirits, they aided the growth of the majestic trees that made this forest – their home. The eight of them lead the newer spirits who were once abandoned humans, In exchange for having a new home and accepting the gift of magic, they turn their backs on death.

Seijuurou, the unofficial leader of them all, sent Tetsuya and Kazunari to investigate. Logically, the humans posed no threat to the spirits themselves but nature would be harmed if conflict arose.

Kazunari went right; he easily ran along the branches that he willed to bend and create a path in the canopy, above the humans’ line of sight. His eyes were as sharp as a hawk’s: a gift that, along with his charismatic personality, made him the perfect spy and assassin in his past life.

Tetsuya went left but stayed on the ground and strolled behind the overgrown bushes. The interesting human he followed had colourful hair like one of his brothers but the human’s red hair was darker, warmer and less… terrifying.

When Tetsuya retreated and agreed with Kazunari that most of the humans were merely sleeping, they returned to their home in the heart of the forest for the night. Thoughts of the human (who, surprisingly, didn’t rip up his flowers despite the hindrance they caused) plagued Tetsuya’s mind and, so, he suffered through a sleepless night.

News spread like wildfire in the following early hours before the sun had risen – a comparison no nature spirit liked but understood well – and an emergency meeting was called. Tetsuya raced through the forest and met with his siblings in the great oaks. They all had grave expressions, even Daiki who usually never took these meetings seriously. The news had caused great worry and upset: the humans were planning to hunt in the forest.

**

Kagami believed some higher power must hate him as he was placed into a hunting party. He only got an hour sleep before the party left at dawn. Rays of soft sunlight streamed through the canopy but the darkness increased as they delved deeper into the forest until it weighed heavily on them.

Having not been in the army long, Kagami didn’t really know those he was hunting with, nor did he want to. He felt no allegiance to the kingdom that conquered his home but it was join the army and live a life of violence or die. His family perished in the initial invasions and he was the only one left to remember them, a task he felt was more important than the freedom of death.

No one knew what animals lived in this forest but everyone was hoping for a couple of deer; if not, some birds would do. The bow and arrow felt uncomfortable in Kagami’s hands, he was not a natural hunter, so he stayed near the back of the group. It felt to him that the forest around them kept shifting and the group was walking in circles but no one else seemed to notice anything off so Kagami stayed quiet. Maybe, if they found nothing, they could move on as they were still enough rations to last another week and get them home. This hunting trip was only because of the officers’ greed.

Those in front of him started grumbling and moaning about the lack of animals as they reached a small clearing walled by trees. It was completely empty; there wasn’t even any birdsong or the sound of rustling feathers. They were about to head back when one suddenly fired an arrow into the branches ahead of them out of frustration. Kagami didn’t think much of it until something growled and a large figure dropped to the ground in front of them.

Cursing loudly, the new arrival had dark blue hair, an arrow embedded in his arm and a murderous expression. Powerful roots erupted from the earth and surrounded the group. Kagami dropped the bow and quiver and drew his sword while his comrades shrunk back and cowered behind him. He faced the enemy and, despite never having fought someone with these unexplainable abilities and the overwhelming power rolling of the strange person, Kagami went into the fight not expecting to lose. He never did.

**

_“It’s simple,” Daiki said without a hint of sarcasm in his voice, “we kill a couple as an example and the humans will move on.”_

_“They most likely do not mean any harm. Killing is too extreme,” Tetsuya added, thinking of the interesting human with red hair._

_Atsushi nodded in agreement, “Killing is too much effort.”_

_“We could just not let them in the forest at all,” Kise added._

_“Then they’ll know something is different about this forest and may try to investigate. We should just lead the humans in circles for a while. They’ll give up eventually,” Satsuki said._

_“I seconded that idea. They humans may also launch an attack if we kill their hunters,” Shintarou said. “It’s the safest option.”_

_“It’s settled then. We will not engage with the humans, just lead them away from any animals until they give up,” Seijuurou said and the meeting ended as the sun started to rise…_

Tetsuya was in the west forest and his group was finally heading back to their camp. Twisting the paths while making sure the humans wouldn’t notice was tiring but it was finally over. Hopefully, the others were nearly finished as well.

Suddenly, the ground rumbled but the hunters didn’t realise. Certain that they would continue back, Tetsuya went to investigate. He ran faster when he heard Daiki shouting, human screams and the thuds of two objects colliding repeatedly.

Reaching the edge of a small clearing, he baulked at the sight. Three humans were cowering behind the redhead as he fended of Daiki’s roots. Daiki was extremely powerful and these roots were strong, fast and impossible for anyone to fully defend against but this human was keeping him at bay with only a mere sword.

Tetsuya spotted an arrow was sticking out of Daiki’s arm and the battle being fought made more sense.

_…Just before the siblings separated to spread the new and prepare for the humans, Seijuurou added one more thing, “If the humans, for some reason, attack first or damage the forest, be sure to destroy them.” No one could argue with that._

Seeing their fellow human completely distracting Daiki, the others deserted him and sprinted away. Tetsuya should have gone after them and stopped them from reaching the others but, right then, saving this one seemed more important. Dealing with the repercussions of his decisions could be done afterwards.

“Daiki! Stop!” Tetsuya stepped further into the clearing and the fight paused. The human looked behind but didn’t appear surprised by the fact that everyone had left him. His breathing was laboured and his knees looked weak from fatigue.

“They attacked first, Tetsu.”

“A-a-tacked!” The human spluttered, indignantly, “That guy didn’t know you were there acting like some weird stalker.”

Tetsuya felt like he was missing something vital and stood there completely lost. The other two, who were viciously fighting a few seconds earlier, dissolved into a loud _verbal_ argument about who attacked who first. It was all rather confusing.

“Anyway, we have orders, Tetsu. Let’s kill this one and track down the ones who ran before they get to the other humans.”

“What on earth are you?” The human asked; he surprisingly didn’t comment on what Daiki said, maybe because Daiki was just actively trying to murder him with tree roots.  

“Nature spirits, duh.” Daiki obviously no longer viewed this human as a threat which Tetsuya found humorous considering this human fought him and _lived_ for more than a minute with only human strength and a sword.

The human’s sword was dipping slightly; he probably sensed the drop in tension or his body was finally succumbing to tiredness, “That was… not the answer I was expecting. You look really human-like for a nature spirit.”

“Or, your species just looks nature-spirit-like,” Tetsuya honestly couldn’t understand how Daiki could easily converse with a human he was planning to kill but Daiki had always been slightly baffling. Having enough of just being a silent observer and finally devising a plan to remedy this bizarre situation and spare the interesting human’s life, Tetsuya stepped forward and coughed to interrupt their pointless bickering and remind the others of his presence.

“What is the likelihood of the other humans believing those who witnessed Daiki’s outburst?”

Tetsuya ignored Daiki’s grumbling at the word _‘outburst’_ and focussed on the human as he considered the question, “Honestly… it’s really unlikely. Men break all the time from the horrors of war and it will be an unbelievable story.”

“And will they notice if you disappear?”

At that Daiki started whining as Tetsuya’s plan became clear: “No, come on. Not this guy.”

“He _was_ abandoned,” Tetsuya said and, knowing he really couldn’t argue, Daiki left with a stream of curses in his wake.

“Uhhhh…”

Tetsuya continued as if nothing happened, “So, will they notice?” he prompted.

The human rubbed the back of his neck and laughed with little humour, “They’ll realise but won’t really care. The officers will most likely conclude it was an animal attack of some kind and it’s not like I have any family left to investigate further.”

It was a sad statement but not something Tetsuya hadn’t heard before from other former-humans. However, it did make the proposal easier: “How would you like to become one of us then?”

The human looked at him dead on and Tetsuya realised it was his first time seeing the human’s eyes. They were bright and the red sparked to life when he met Tetsuya’s eyes. “Become what?” He said with a small, genuine and really _nice_ smile, “Nature-spirit-like?”

“It would mean becoming immortal, gaining magic and vowing to protect this forest and its secrets forever,” Tetsuya had to emphasise what joining them actually meant and how important the decision was because there was no turning back, even though he really did want this human to agree.

Without a moment of hesitation, the human answered, “Done.” He held out his hand and said, “I’m Kagami Taiga.”

“Tetsuya,” he said as he took the offered hand.

And with that, the magic enveloped them both and the deal was sealed. Eternity stretched ahead of them and it would be full of magic, friendship, love and _life._

 

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos, comments and constructive criticisms are very much appreciated.
> 
> If you're interested, come and chat with me on Instagram. You can find me @random_writer_2002


End file.
